Category Archives: crafts with Robin

Teenaged girls collect lots of stuff. I should know. My daughter is turning 16. It’s not that she buys much, it’s just that over the years, friends and family have given her trinkets, nail polish, hairbands, lotions, potions and all kinds of sprays that smell good. What to do with it all? I found an interesting shelf at Goodwill a few weeks ago that I imagined would work well in my daughter’s bathroom, and I was right. Today it rained and my plan to weed the garden were foiled. I took out the shelf and got to work. The paint job in the photo looks pink, but the color I chose is actually more of a lilac color which matches the walls in our guest room upstairs across from this bathroom. I went through my scrapbook collection of stickers and decorative tape and added embellishments to the shelves as well as my daughter’s name on top. Perhaps this is not a family heirloom of lifetime “keeper” of all things girl, but it will do, for now.

I went to a flea market this weekend and picked up a few items for $1 that I thought would be nice in my home if I added a little effort and creativity. The plus-side of only spending a buck is that if the project doesn’t turn out too well, no big loss. Believe me, I have created some pretty ugly projects that ended up in the scrap pile, but fortunately, this was not one of them.

The item I purchased was originally brown and meant to hang on the wall to hold letters, keys etc. I painted it a solid color and then used the paint left over from my hallway walls so it would blend in nicely in its new location.

Then I used a sponge dipped in white paint to add a bit of texture. It gives it a less polished look and more of a “shabby chic” look. There is a house and garden etched into the wood that is now more visible because the white paint settled into the etching. I had some flower stencils left over from another project, so I took out those and added the flowers and a few white scrapbook embellishments. This is now hanging in my back-of-the-house hallway and I will keep outgoing mail there, coupons etc. so I can grab them on my way out the door.

We had a lot of snow this Winter, and as a result, we’ve been indoors making music, art, crafts—that is, when we aren’t reading! Here is one project that was fun and easy to make. Perhaps you’ll want to do this with your son or daughter to pass the time on a rainy or snowy day. I am working on making my guest room a bit more inviting and personal and this seemed like a good place to start.

My guest room needed a mirror, but as the room is not very big, I just wanted one that would fit nicely over the guest dresser.

We started with a cheap store-bought mirror. It’s about 15″ on the longest side. This one was purchased at Walmart for about $3. The frame is white plastic.

Then we took out the glue gun, and went to town, affixing seashells we gathered from our trip to the Outer Banks.

The seashells have been sitting in a glass jar on a windowsill for years and until now, I never really noticed their beauty. It was like discovering them on thebeach all over again!

The result is a pretty/artsy mirror that not only enhances the decor of our guest room; it is a lovely reminder of our trip we made to our friends’ wedding in the Outer Banks.